STRENGTHS-FOCUSED INTERVENTION: THE NEW APPROACH OF THE SOCIAL WORK SERVICE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE (SAPS)

Abstract

In 1996 social work in the newly constituted South African Police Service (SAPS) was at a crossroad. The era of the South African Police (SAP) had ended with the promulgation of the South African Police Service Act (Act 68/1995) on 4 October 1995. The South African Police Service (SAPS) was in the process of implementing a new policy that emphasised the empowerment of personnel in the interests of effective service delivery within a transforming organisation and society. At the same time however, SAPS was facing an increase in the incidence of social problems among its 120 000 members. A choice had to be made. It was either to stick to the therapy-centred approach that had become the norm in the SAP, or try to conceptualise an alternative service-delivery paradigm. The choice fell on the latter. The result was the operationalised version of social work’s strengths approach that now forms the basis of occupational social work in the SAPS

Keywords

• south african police service
• saps
• empowerment
• employee
• social work’s strengths approach